It seems odd that the PS2 gets these additional Singstar games while the PS3 only has 2 games so far. I wonder why they chose to release these two games for the older system instead of making it available as downloadable content for the PS3 version of Singstar.

You may wonder why I’ve chose to review both games as one, well the truth is that they look identical and the only difference is the song list, it seemed pointless to separate them when I could compare them both and say which is the better game, if there is one. So let’s get to it.

The first game is Singstar: Boybands vs. Girlbands and a good number of songs for your cash, although I don’t really agree with all the song choices, I can see that the female audience will enjoy the list below:

Singstar: Boybands vs. Girlbands Full Track List

Bananarama – Cruel Summer
Bananarama – Love In The First Degree
Boyz II Men – I’ll Make Love To You
Boyzone – Love Me For A Reason
Bros – I Owe You Nothing
Busted – Air Hostess
Busted – What I Go To School For
East 17 – Let It Rain
East 17 – Stay Another Day
En Vogue – Free Your Mind
Five – Everybody Get Up
Five – Keep On Movin’
Girls Aloud – The Show
Hanson – Mmmbop
Jade – Don’t Walk Away
McFly – All About You
McFly – 5 Colours In Her Hair
Mel & Kim – Showing Out (Get Fresh At The Weekend)
Mis-Teeq – One Night Stand
New Edition – Candy Girl
Pussycat Dolls – Stickwitu
Sister Sledge – He’s The Greatest Dancer
Spice Girls – Say You’ll Be There
Sugababes – About You Now
The Bangles – Eternal Flame
The Shangri-Las – Leader Of The Pack
The Supremes – Stop! In The Name Of Love
Westlife – Flying Without Wings
Westlife – Swear It Again
Wilson Phillips – Hold On

As you can see, there are a good number of songs…although I do think it could have benefited from a few more from the better bands like Girls Aloud and Take That. For the game to have songs from ancient bands like Busted and East 17 seems a bit desperate and probably couldn’t secure the songs that they wanted to please fans, I’m sure most will like it but for the price of the game…you’d expect much more.

Each song is accompanied with the video to sing to, but because it’s on PS2…the videos are not in high definition, so it looks quite grainy and ugly on the bigger TV’s like mine. The interface is pretty simple to get used to and you can perform duets with friends, although it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before. It’s just a shame that the track list doesn’t have that many classics to sing to.

Moving onto Singstar: Singalong with Disney…it’s obvious that this game is meant for kids with classic songs like Aladdin’s “A Whole New World” and most of the ones you would expect. The track list only offers 20 songs though, so it seems a bit thin on the ground when compared to Boybands vs. Girlbands with its 30 songs and mixing them up for a few medleys. For a full retail game, it seems a bit of a rip-off and you’ll wonder why it’s not just available as DLC for the PS3 version as I have. The interface is identical as in the other game, so there’s nothing separating them apart from the track list, which is below:

Singstar: Singalong with Disney Full Track List

101 Dalmatians Cruella De Vil
Aladdin A Whole New World
Beauty and the Beast Beauty And The Beast
Cinderella Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo & The Work Song
Lady and the Tramp He’s A Tramp
Peter Pan Following The Leader and You Can Fly!
Sleeping Beauty I Wonder and Once Upon a Dream
Tarzan Son Of Man
The Aristocats Ev’rybody Wants To Be A Cat
The Jungle Book The Bare Necessities and I Wan’na Be Like You
The Little Mermaid Under the Sea and Kiss the Girl
The Lion King I Just Can’t Wait To Be King and Circle of Life
Toy Story You’ve Got A Friend In Me
Winnie the Pooh Winnie the Pooh

As you can see, it has all classic Disney songs. Although it’s missing one of the most famous Lion King songs, Hakuna Matata and the one that Elton John signs, seems like a missed opportunity to me. I’m sure kids will be pleased with the main list, although the absence of some of the other songs is a shame.

When put side by side, it’s clear that each game is meant for a different audience. Disney for the kids and Boybands vs. Girlbands for the girls and those with little taste in music. That last part was a personal preference so don’t take it too seriously.

The Verdict

Both of these Singstar games seem like cheap cash-in’s on the brand, instead of capitalizing on it with downloadable content for the PS3 version, they made them available on the PS2 as full price games. It seems a bit of a rip-off and the song choices aren’t all that good. Boybands vs. Girlbands lacks any great songs and Singalong with Disney is missing some of the other songs that most kids would like to sing to. I still bet that both games go to sell incredibly well, which is a shame since neither truly deserve to. It’s not a bad game deep down, it just lacks anything contemporary.